Man receives $128 ticket for warming up car in his own driveway

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ROSEVILLE, Mich. — A Michigan man is furious after he was ticketed $128 for warming up his car in his own driveway.

On Jan. 2nd, Nick Taylor started his car to warm it up before going inside for five minutes, Click on Detroit reports. When he went outside to check the vehicle, he discovered a ticket that read, “vehicle parked in drive with keys in ignition, motor running — no one around.”

Roseville Police Chief James Berlin says leaving the key in your vehicle while it is unattended is “a public safety issue.” If you use a remote starter and the key isn’t in the car, it is OK.

16 comments

i am willing to bet you start your car and let it warm up. according to the entire article the state police said there is no statute ,law or ordnance against this. officer is being a jerk and so is his boss.

Beandon

The thing is, go to the local police department and watch them warm up there cars before entering them, they are in there parking lot and yes probably locked with the other set of keys on there hips but still does it make I think right for them? How does it make it right or fair that they do the same thing (atleast in my hometown) when they run into gas stations, or before leaving for there shift.

Michael

First off I’m not defending this decision or ordinance. I can’t say that I agree with the decision to write this citation but that being said….

You can’t go to the local PD and look at the cars. Marked emergency vehicles are exempt from all parking laws. That applies to police cars, fire trucks, ambulances, etc.

Also not every city/township has this ordinance. You can’t compare your hometown to this news story as they may not have his ordinance. Ultimately people need to live in a community that has laws that coincide with their beliefs.

This kids problem is he went about resolving it the wrong way. Ultimately the chief has the ability to void the ticket and probably would have if the kid would have handled it in a mature manner. I’m sure the chief probably thought this ticket was as silly as this kid did. Unfortunately he resorted to name calling and contacting the media and now the chief has been forced to publicly support the officer who was following the law.

Phyllis

julie

many people have older vehicles that do not have remote start or they cannot afford remote start…since the 60s I have seen people warming up their cars..the biggest danger is that someone will get in and take them…Yep…now warming up your vehicle is only for the rich…Thank You mister officer for protecting only the rich.

Jenny Vanderhaul

This is something people in states that recieve snow or colder weather do all of the time and have for generations. Hell I remember my mom and dad doing the same thing before bringing me out to the car. It makes it so children stay warm and don’t end up getting sick as well as elderly people who can’t handle the cold due to it inflicting pain in their joints.

Truth be told I think cops putting tickets on cars with motors running and *keys* in the ignition is just another way for them to fill their ticket quota. If you were to use their logic any running vehicle that is unattended key or not is a risk to public safety.

Then again the cars don’t even have to be running for that to be the case. A simple faulty break line could cause a car to roll backwards without it being running or it could be hotwired. Some cops these days seem to forget their common sense when they put on their uniform.

Michael

Just a quick correction. There’s no such thing as ticket quotas. They are illegal. That statement is just something people keep repeating even though it hasn’t been the case in decades.

I know a lot of police officers. It’s interesting seeing their progression as they go from the “write everyone a ticket that’s breaking the law because the law is black and white” rookie officer to the “the law is black and white but we have to enforce the spirit of the law” type of officer. Most officers, with time, figure out there’s a reason for every law on the books but it doesn’t mean you need to enforce every law with every person. It’s there for when you need it but can be ignored when nobody is harming anybody.

Just try to keep in mind we are only getting one side of the story. The officer involved hasn’t explained his reasoning or history with this subject.

Thomas Lawrence

SAMANTHA POSTMUS

How would we warm up our vehicles if we have small children? I am not going to put my 4 month old baby and 4 year old in a freezing car and sit there and let it warm up, that is ridiculous. If we dont let it warm up we wont be able to see out of our windows and it is not good for the car to just start it up and drive while cold. Ive also noticed that our Police Officers leave there cars running where ever they are when they get out of there cars, so do they have to shut there cars off as well so nobody tries stealing there cars??